B.C.’s top doctor says “everybody and their dog” has come up with some kind of contact-tracing app for COVID-19 but the province hasn’t found any that would meet its needs.

Dr. Bonnie Henry says B.C. is trying to find the right technical support for a potential app but is also looking at how it could augment current technology rather than coming up with something new.

However, she says it’s not clear if having an app that provides generic information on people’s phones about where they’ve been would be helpful overall.

The provincial health officer announced eight new cases and four deaths today but says the “really great news” is that 17 outbreaks in long-term care homes are over, including at a North Vancouver facility where they began.

The Lynn Valley Care Centre also had Canada’s first COVID-19 death in early March, when a man in his 80s became infected and a cluster of cases followed.

Henry says British Columbians should forego any global travel this summer and stay in their neighbourhoods while remembering the motto “few faces, large spaces.”